Rajah Lifestyle | Boost Your Kitchen Confidence

Perhaps you are relatively proficient in the kitchen, or, maybe you are barred from even the toaster? Whatever the case may be, this cheat-sheet will make your life in the kitchen easier sso that you can spend more time making meaningful memories and less time sweating the small stuff.

1. Think outside the kitchen

Talk about a hair-brained scheme – shower caps are great for covering leftovers. What’s more, shower caps can be washed and reused, so they are better for the environment than plastic wrap.

2. Fresh tomatoes

To keep tomatoes fresh for longer, store them at room temperature with the stem-side down. This prevents the fruit from losing moisture and limits their exposure to oxygen.

3. Paste it up

Freeze ready-made ginger, garlic and fried onion paste in ice trays to save yourself some time while cooking the evening meal. These aromatic frozen nuggets will form the perfect base for your favourite curry recipe.

4. Squash the stress

To remove the seeds from squash and pumpkin, use an ice cream scoop or grapefruit spoon. The sharp edges of these utensils easily cut through the fibrous tendrils which hold the seeds in place.

5. Easy peeler

To easily peel garlic, crush each clove with the side of a knife or the underside of a plate and watch as the skin falls off.

6. Speed up ripening

A simple paper bag is the master at ripening green fruit. The bag helps to concentrate levels of ethylene gas which is what helps to encourage certain fruits to ripen.

7. Soften butter

To soften hard butter in a flash, heat the surface of a glass with boiling water from the kettle then cover the butter with the warm glass. The heat and steam from the glass will gently warm the butter to the perfect, spreadable consistency.

8. Skim without waste

Remove excess oil from the top of your sauces and stews by wrapping an ice cube in a paper towel or cheesecloth and then skimming the ice cube over the surface of the cooked food. Watch how the fat clings to the cloth or paper towel.